Student designs vie to be next campus icon

Two student teams are competing to have their daring designs celebrating Brunel's 50th Anniversary installed on campus.

The Imagine50 contest called on the Brunel community to create an iconic piece of public art that commemorates the university's history and inspires future generations.

Dozens of designs were submitted and voted on by a panel drawn from across the university. Students, staff and alumni are now being asked to vote on the best two - both created by teams studying for degrees in digital design and branding.

Team lead Maria said: "We are all connected and we think this sculpture reminds us of that fact. As Brunel students we wanted to keep alive the university's value of innovation by creating something that is both enduring and ahead of its time."

Developing was created by Shiyao Wang, Xinrui Zhang, Junhao Cheng and Tochukwa Chukwu.

Team lead Shiyao said: "We're very proud to make the final two. It's exciting to be studying here during Brunel's 50th Anniversary celebrations. We're sure Brunel will become even more outstanding and our idea supports this. Our entry represents innovation and creativity, something our course places great value on. We also made it interactive and colourful to represent the energetic life of a student."

Both designs, which can be seen here, feature a mix of materials and a have a strong interactive element.

Voting is open until 11 January 2016 and the winning concept will become the inspiration for the new installation, which will be developed by the university in conjunction with the winning team.

A series of events will be held at Brunel to mark the university’s 50th year – including public debates, film nights, a gala party and a Discovery Trail on campus. The centrepiece will be Charter Day on 6 July next year, when the university will celebrate becoming a university 50 years ago.